Metal thieves cause wet mess in Montgomery Co.

The search is on for metal thieves who caused a big mess in Montgomery County. Authorities say they stole brass from the water lines of several businesses along I-45.

Shenandoah police tell us this happened at businesses along the I-45 corridor, right around the business properties of Amazing Spaces and Mattress Firm and on the other side of the freeway in front of Robert's Carpet.

When officers arrived, they found the backflow preventers had been stolen, allowing water to gush onto the properties.

There was no damage to the buildings themselves, but replacing the backflow preventers is expensive.

"The day shift will contact the offices or the buildings that were involved today and see if there is any type of video that has some external video in hoping to catch some type of break on that and find out what kind of car it was and how many people were involved in it," said Lt. Nolan Diver with the Shenandoah Police Department.

If you have any information on these crimes, you're asked to contact Montgomery County Crime Stoppers at 1-800-392-STOP.

Lt. Nolan tells Eyewitness News they haven't had a crime like this in Shenandoah in about a year or so. He says often people come up from Houston, take the items and then return to Houston to try to sell the stolen goods.

Authorities say they will be in contact with scrap metal businesses. __________________________________________________________